Date Muddles
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: [post-anime] Ichiro wants to marry the mother. Ohjiro wants to date the daughter. One of them isn't going to work out by law...but that's assuming either work out at all. After all, the sematics might become a non-issue.
1. Ichiro and Ohjiro

**A/N:** Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, h8 - write a multichap that is exactly 4 chapters.

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 **Date Muddles**  
 _Chapter 1 - Ichiro and Ohjiro_

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Usually, they got on fine. Except when they had a conflict of interest, and even that wasn't an exclusive thing. Like when they'd been seconds against each other at the National Games. And, though it had taken Ichiro far too long to put it together, when they'd fallen in love with the same person.

But it didn't matter now. Ohjiro had a new love. Was happily preparing for a date and with a coolness that Ichiro often found himself jealous of. But that was part of the reason the younger Mihara was called the nobleman of the layer, why he had a flock of fans that sometimes got too close to comfort. But Ohjiro could handle all of that. And if he'd found a girl he could fall in love with instead of the other way around, then good for him.

Except when it interfered with Ichiro's love life, and Ohjiro just had to pick the option B that did.

It was still better than option A. Marginally. Because with option A, Ichiro could have employed a technicality and there'd be a heartbroken Mihara brother and another happily married.

It didn't quite work that way when they were two separate but not mutually exclusive pairs.

Not that Shuko had even replied to his proposal yet. Not that Ohjiro had confirmed who his date was with yet (he'd only smiled and said: 'you'll find out'.) Not that he'd even seen Misaki since her crowning, because the Suzuharas had a lot of catching up to do and it would have been terribly rude to interrupt that, and Shuko took a while to decide things anyway...

He ran his fingers through his uncombed hair. He was just talking himself into a corner. Getting caught up with hypothetics. For all he knew, he was going out with that Arisu girl. She'd been quite smitten with him. Or with Ringo Seto - she knew enough about rabid fans to not turn into one herself. Or Sai "the ice machine" Jonouchi, who'd similarly been knocked out of the final four. Or Misaki's friend...what was her name again? Tomayo? Actually, they'd make quite an interesting team. Loud and passionate versus quiet and dedicated.

But no. Ohjiro had barely exchanged a full sentence with her, and his rocky relationship with Kotarou could only be explained one other way - with Misaki.

.

It looked like his brother had finally figured it out, that he'd fallen for the same women all those years ago. Hopefully, the fact that he'd fallen out of love with the same woman was all cleared up. It must have been, for Ichiro to pull that romantic rose stunt in the championship match. Or maybe Ichiro had simply been trying to sneak ahead - because, or independent of the fact that, Ohjiro had missed his own chance.

It had been a nice and thoughtful touch, and the audience had appreciated it as well as the deuses. A romantic touch as well, but then, no-one had really commented on his choice of red roses for Misaki except how appropriate it was for the nobleman of the layer to bring to an uprising princess. Not that Misaki was called a princess yet. Not that she necessarily ever would, though the title of "miracle rookie" may have to be retired should she win the championship two or more years running.

He chuckled at the thought. Ichiro had been the one to first lay eyes on her as well...and get arrested for it too, amusingly. Once he'd escaped the company of his father's workmates (and Shuko), he'd locked himself in the bathroom and laughed until he cried. Maybe their fate had been written then and there: a mother and daughter, and two brothers far apart in age, and a web that tangled all of them together until what one could call each thraed became a blur.

But some of those were clear. Mother and daughter. Brothers - no, that was a less clear matter, because they weren't related by blood at all. Ichiro falling in love with Shuko. He falling for Misaki. And on their own, there was no problem with either of those. Shuko wasn't married. Misaki wasn't spoken for, and only three years younger - a difference that would disappear when they both grew up. The problem was when you added them together - because as soon as one couple married, the other became illegal. And he could just picture his brother angsting over that very possibility.

But Ohjiro was not his brother. He liked to think he was more practical. Like how he'd known a relationship between himself and Shuko would never have worked out. Like a relationship between him and anyone, at their ages, would likely not last forever. How many high school sweethearts married, after all? How many people were lucky enough to find their soulmate on the second try? So, chances were, the issue would never arise. Instead, it would be an awkwardness - a couple that once dated would become stepbrother and stepsister because surely Ichiro was old enough, and had had enough time, to know who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

But, along the same vein, it was an opportunity that would soon be lost. Maybe their relationship was already brother and sister and they simply needed some clarity, some label to slap on to their confused minds. Or maybe it could be something different, something more.

His brother pulled at his hair. It only looked more messy, more like the mad scientist than the largest shareholder and proud owner of Piffle Princess and the Angelic Layer. Then again, this was the man who climbed trees to spy on his semi-protegee and cosplayed as Athena to make mother and daughter smile.

'What are you laughing at?' Ichiro asked, catching the slow smile stretching over Ohjiro's face.

'Nothing,' Ohjiro replied. It was a lie, of course, but not everything had to be shared. Especially not the irrelevant tangents of thought. He was the one going on a date, after all. And he was already dressed, already ready, just waiting until it wouldn't be considered too early before he set off to Misaki's place. Or maybe he was waiting for something else: his brother to admit, in words, that he'd proposed (because, at the moment, his brother and team were only making an educated guess), and all but order him to go find someone else to fall in love with...

Not that he could help who he fell in love with. Not that he could help whether it was love or not.

And, in the end, Ichiro said nothing on that subject, so that was what Ohjiro was going to find out.

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'Did you remember your wallet?'

'Yes.'

'And some spare cash to dazzle her in gifts?'

'Yes.'

'And your train pass?'

'Yes.'

'And a bouquet -'

'Of course not. There's no occasion for that this time.'

Ichiro raised an eyebrow. 'You don't think Misaki becoming the champion of Angelic Layer is cause for a bouquet?'

When he put it that way... 'I'll pick one up on the way,' Ohjiro decided. 'Or the way back. It's not something she'll want to be carrying around all day.'

'All day,' Ichiro repeated faintly. 'Just what are your plans?'

'A few stops downtown, lunch at the park and then a movie,' Ohjiro repeated. 'I'm not a stranger to dating, you know.'

'You've never actually dated before,' Ichiro pointed out. 'Unless you've been keeping secrets from your dear older brother...' He seemed to deflate as he said that, an echo of his usual animated remarks and a clear sign that the date was still bothering him.

But he was making an effort to be noble...or something. Ironic, since he was the father of Angelic Layer and it was Ohjiro that was the nobleman. And ironic that Ichiro was the big brother, not the father - and not the stepfather either. It wasn't his job to make sacrifices for the little sibling. Though it kind of was his job to not burden his little brother with his woes, he supposed. Things got more complicated when there wasn't blood involved. Maybe they got more meaningful as well...

But then again, some things weren't different at all.

Ichiro had brought him roasted salt peanuts when he'd lost in the semifinals of the National Tournament. All because he remembered when his father had tried to find something his new stepbrother would like and he'd been the stubborn boy who'd said no to all the good stuff and crumbled at something that appealed far less.

Misaki hadn't written or spoken to her mother in seven years, because she'd said, when her mother left for Tokyo, that she'd be okay and not to worry and she couldn't bring herself to say she wasn't okay, that she missed her, that she wanted her to come back - and it had been the same for Shuko too. She'd spoken so much, and so tenderly, about Misaki, but never to her.

And so seven years had gone by, and they'd only started to make up for them. Seven years where the Mihara brothers - stepbrothers - had had Shuko's company, instead of Misaki.

'You'll be late if you don't leave,' Ichiro said, staring at the clock.

'Right,' said Ohjiro. 'I think I talked myself into a corner,' he added.

'Oh?' asked his step-brother.

He didn't elaborate. That was a conversation after a date, anyhow.


	2. Shuko and Misaki

**Date Muddles  
** _Chapter 2 – Shuko and Misaki_

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It had been a long time since they'd lived as mother and daughter before this, and so they were bumps along the way. Misaki was too independent for Shuko to hide away from the world. Shuko was too fragile for Misaki to spill all those things she'd kept inside at once.

But they tried. They found their happy medium. Talked about innocuous things, the things Shoko had already told them: how hard Shuko had been working all those years (though not the specifics), how Misaki had been at school and the friends she'd made.

And then there was Angelic Layer. They'd had a battle in the championship that may never be replicated again, but the two of them could still play together recreationally. Learn from each other. Improve each other. Shuko, after all, was one of the founders of Angelic Layer. And Misaki was the miracle rookie with the sharp eyes that managed to replicate almost any technique.

Sometimes they played with Athena and Hikaru. Sometimes they played with the old dolls: the first angels that were far more difficult to move. At first, Misaki's simply flailed around, but she tried again and improved. She didn't give up. She didn't run away.

Shuko wondered if Misaki had gotten that trait from her father instead.

.

Shuko didn't really regret saying 'no' to Ichiro. It was a temporary thing, in any case. Misaki was more important. She had no love to spare, no time to spare.

Misaki, however, did. She had her friends, and her heart. She was growing, in a way that meant she needed the outside world. She went to school. Went to the park with her friends. Went to their houses. Went to Angelic Layer tournaments as a spectator, and as Champion as well. Went to rent out Layers so she could play with Hokuto who she didn't have the chance, in the tournament, to defeat. And to play with new people she'd never faced. To play with the old people she had. To teach Tomayo and Kotarou. Even to teach Shoko.

And, now, she was getting ready for a date with Ohjiro, and though she might be a little young to think so deeply about live, that was the age people had to get out and live their lives.

Unlike Shuko who'd already fallen in love once.

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Misaki was nervous. It was almost amusing to watch her. A Kodak moment. 'It's your first date, and you're young,' Shuko comforted. 'You don't have to worry about things right now.'

'But I don't want to do something wrong,' Misaki wailed. 'What if something goes awkward? What if we can't talk to each other anymore? What if we're no longer friends?'

Now, Misaki sounded uncomfortably like she herself. But that was easier than listening to her own doubts echoing in her ears. Because this wasn't about her. This wouldn't affect her much. Of course, it was a little hard thinking about Misaki being with someone else, falling in love with someone else, but she'd had to deal with that feeling for seven years when Misaki grew up separately to her: with her grandparents, with her aunt… Shuko had, in that sense, already given Misaki away once. The second time might be harder in the long run, but for the moment they were still trying to find their groove again.

Here, at least, she could act like she knew a mother would. Pet her daughter's hair, mess it up a little and then brush it again so it settled even more beautifully than before. 'And ribbons,' she said thoughtfully. Those long braids of yours need ribbons for a special occasion.

Lucky she had a few. It must have been Yuko's doing, because she didn't remember buying them and neither did Misaki. But they were glad. They needed the ribbons and they were there, almost like magic. Because they would have forgotten again otherwise, and then looked for them another day to find they'd never brought them. They were both scatterbrained like that. Another thing Misaki seemed to have inherited from Shuko, instead of her father. Though that short stature of hers was definitely his.

She weaved them into Misaki's braids and tied small bows at the end of them. Misaki stroked them carefully. 'It's pretty,' she said, before smiling widely. 'Thank you.'

Shuko smiled. Misaki really did look pretty, in that pink dress and red ribbons. 'Look at you,' she said fondly. 'Can you get my camera for me?'

Misaki did. Like with most things not used often, it took her a little while to find it. The house was still new to her, after all. New to both of them. But they were getting used to it together. 'Got it!'

She gave it to her mother. Shuko snapped a quick photo before she could pose, and then had her stand near the wall, then sit prettily on the chair like a doll. The last one was the most beautiful, but also the least like Misaki. She sat down, to watch her friends, for things like Angelic Layer, but it simply didn't do for a pose.

'Maybe we should try the chairs in the training room,' Shuko suggested. 'We can wait for Ohjiro in there as well.

They went.

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They wound up having a light sparring match. Shuko got a lovely picture of Misaki's face intensely concentrating on her Angel. This time, they weren't using Athena and Hikaru, but rather the old, hard to move dolls. While people like Ichiro tried to find ways to make the Angelic Layer and the Angels even easier to use, she had a certain fondness for the old strugges. Misaki, too, wanted to understand those feelings. There was a new generation of eggs out after Hikaru's, but while Misaki liked to look at the dolls and watch them fight, Hikaru was irreplaceable and any doll from a new generation would be just that: a replacement.

So they sparred lightly with their dolls. Shuko got their pictures. Misaki's mind was snatched away by something else.

And then Ohjiro showed up.

Neither of them heard him knock, until he buzzed them, sounding anxious. The noise from the buzzer snapped their concentration.

'Oh, Ohjiro.' Misaki was suddenly frazzled again, jumping out of the chair before she'd quite taken her headset off. 'I'm co – wow.' The headset yanked her back and she wound up falling.

'Are you okay?' Shuko asked, alarmed.

'Fine.' Misaki waved a hand and laughed, like she'd tripped over her feet while running happily and was happily to stand back up. It took a bit of doing, since she'd gotten tangled in the headset wires, but she managed.

'Hold on a minute,' Shuko said to Ohjiro. 'Misaki will open the door for you in a minute.'

'Okay.' He sounded a little nervous. That was unusual for him. The last time she remembered Ohjiro sounding like that with – well, her.

Not that she was aware of the other boy's crush on her. She simply thought it was cute that he liked Misaki as he did. Acting like such a gentleman, beside Misaki's more child-like enthusiasm. They made a cute pair. Odd, perhaps, in the long term. Perhaps incompatible too. But cute.

And who really cared about compatibility in the long term? Living together was about love and compromise and all sorts of other things, after all. And those two had a long time to go before they were ready for such a step. And, like a good number of high school dates, they may never reach that step together. What was more important was having fun in the here and now, not thinking about what the future hold.

'Don't think too far ahead,' she repeated, smoothing Misaki's hair out again. It had gotten a little roughed by the headset. 'Just have fun today, okay? And then think about tomorrow.'

'Okay.' She smoothed her dress nervously. 'I got it. I'm ready.' She kissed her mother on the cheek and raced off to the door.

'Don't forget to pick the red shoes!' Shuko called.

'Okay – they have heels!'

Somehow, both of them had missed that in their outfit planning before.

'Do you have another red pair?'

'No! Just blue – ' Which definitely didn't go with a pink dress, 'and gold and black.'

'Hmm…' Shuko hummed. 'Try the black ones, then.' Black was a neutral colour, after all. Black went with anything. 'Have fun!'

'Thanks, 'kaa-san! I'm going now.'

The door opened, then closed.

Shuko was a little surprised Ohjiro had chosen not to come in, but she supposed the boy wanted to avoid the talk with the parent until things were more mature, and more sure.

(It didn't occur to her that the boy had had a crush on him once upon a time, and that his brother had a crush on him now. Because that put things into a slightly different perspective.)


	3. Ohjiro and Misaki

**Date Muddles  
** _Chapter 3 – Ohjiro and Misaki_

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They both started out a little frazzled. Just walking silently down the street with Misaki smoothing out her dress and Ohjiro fiddling with his wallet.

'I'm sorry.' Misaki stopped walking. 'I've never been on a date before and I'm not very good at this.

 _See, you've made her nervous,_ Ohjirou scolded himself. 'Breathe,' he said. 'Just relax.'

Misaki exaggerated the motion, making her smile. He copied her. She blushed. 'Oh, don't do that. You make me feel embarrassed.'

'It's a good way to relax,' he pointed out.

'But, well,' she giggled, 'it does look odd when you do it.'

Well, what was he supposed to say to that?

'I suppose it's because you look so cool and collected most of the time…' she mused. 'Seeing you like this is a little…different.'

'I suppose…' He hadn't really noticed it himself. 'I do spend more time with adults, all in all.'

'But Icchan –'

Ohjiro laughed at that. 'Ichiro-niisan is a special case,' he admitted. 'And maybe Ogata-san too. But on the whole, the world of the adults is quieter. Or maybe they're not special cases at all, and the ones I paid more attention to were people like Shuko.'

'My mother?' Misaki cocked her head. 'You really wanted to fight her again, didn't you?'

'Yes. I – ' He broke off. That wasn't something to bring up now. 'Anyway, let's see what stalls they have today.'

Misaki accepted the change of track without complaint. 'Okay!'

.

He'd gotten her a rabbit keychain last time. He still wasn't sure why he'd chosen something like that. Something one would give to a girl much younger than them. Certainly not anything appropriate for a girl you were on a date with.

But giving Misaki something like a promise ring just seemed…odd. Maybe that was for high school sweethearts on graduation day. What would be good for her now though? Not a rabbit. Not a ring. Maybe a necklace then? Or a bangle or a ribbon?

It hadn't been nearly as hard to pick something before.

Misaki was combing the selections as well. Eventually, Ohjiro's attention slipped away from the products themselves and to her. What she paid more attention to. What she might want…and, maybe, what she might expect from him.

He noticed this time her eyes lingered on the ring section as well, before moving away.

Finally, she settled on a little purse. Small enough for Hikaru to sit in it, Ohjiro estimated. That was probably what Misaki was thinking as well. And it suit. Something for her doll. Something she can carry with her all the time, like the little bunny keychain on her phone.

Later, he realised it really was like that little bunny for her phone. Or even more impersonal than that. After all, it had been for Hikaru's use, in the end. Not for her's.

But when she smiled sunnily at him then, he thought nothing of it.

.

They ate lunch at the park. It was peaceful and lively all in one. A little like a family picnic.

There was still something odd about the whole situation. Ohjiro wondered what that was.

Misaki wondered what that was, as well. Somehow, this wasn't how she expected a date to feel. She'd been so nervous, after all. She'd taken such care with her clothes and it looked like Ohjiro had done the same. And then… They were walking through the stalls, looking at things, talking about things, normal things… They weren't doing anything romantic, like holding hands. They weren't talking about personal, and maybe uncomfortable things. Just normal things. Like she talked to her classmates with.

No, that was cruel. Like she talked to her friends with. The fluttering in her chest had gone away so quickly. Was it supposed to do that? Were they supposed to be sitting like this, Ohjiro leading the way and she following behind? Where they supposed to look like this, she looking everywhere and Ohjiro looking at her.

She watched the other kids in the park. The little ones were in the playground. A few older ones stood in a group by the trees, watching them with various expressions on her face. 'We should play on the swings,' she said suddenly.

She wondered whether Ohjiro would join her or join the watches.

'I'll watch,' he smiled at her.

He joined the watchers.

She smiled back and hopped to the end of the line. They called her Onee-san and took her hands. When it was her turn, they pushed her. She swung higher and higher, and Ohjiro's figure on the picnic mat swung like a pendulum.

He watched her like those older brothers and sister watched their siblings, she thought.

She didn't think she minded that, but that wasn't how she was supposed to feel, was it?

Or maybe she'd just misunderstood something along the way.

.

They saw a movie. It was based off one of her favourite mangas and she wondered how Ohjiro had known that.

'Shuko spoke a lot about you,' he explained. 'She knew all your interests, all your favourite foods – even how your favourite manga changed six times in a week once.'

Misaki laughed. She remembered that as well. She had a lot of favourites, but it was in that week that her all-time favourite had been decided. And Hikaru's appearance and name were based off a character in that manga too. Not the movie they'd seen, but one of her many trailing favourites was good enough.

'You paid a lot of attention to my mother's words,' she commented. 'To remember all of this.'

His laugh sounded a little awkward, she thought. A little forced. And yet, it hadn't sounded like it had changed at all.

Had it always been like that, then? Was she only beginning to notice these things because she had an opportunity like this?

'Is something wrong?'

Now, his smile was the "please don't worry about me" sort. 'Nothing's wrong,' he said.

For some reason, she didn't believe him.

.

Later, when they were walking home, she asked: 'how did you feel about my mother?'

Ohjiro stopped walking. _Why?_ He wondered. _Why did she have to ask that?_

'It's just that…' she continued. 'You know so much. You've spent so much time with her. More than I have. Was she like a mother to you?'

'No, it's not that.' He shook his head. 'It might have been if I'd had a father instead of a mother, and a stepmother instead of a stepfather. But it's not like that. I had my mother and Shuko was Shuko. Shuko was…' _My first love…_ But how could he say that to her daughter, on a date with her? 'A big sister, I guess.'

'A big sister,' she repeated, then she laughed. 'I guess that makes you my uncle.'

For some reason, that made him feel a little sad. Was that the problem with their date? Why he couldn't think of what to do, or how to do it, when he'd never had that problem before? Why he led her by the hand without actually holding her hand and she came along, like Shuko offering the headset to him and him taking it without really thinking things through at all?

'I think…' Misaki was speaking again. 'You and I are…like a big brother and little sister.'

Yes… It certainly seemed like that, didn't it?

Still, he was glad Misaki had come to that conclusion herself. It wouldn't be as painful that way. Who knew? Maybe it wouldn't be painful at all that way. They'd had a fun day out. They'd spent fun times together and they would in the future again.

'Let's go out again sometime,' he offered. 'Like brother and sister again.'

She looked at him a moment, before nodding and agreeing. 'And this time, I'll save up my pocket money and buy something really great for you!' she decided.

.

Misaki put Hikaru in the purse as soon as she got home. 'Did Ohjiro give that you you?' Shuko asked. 'That's an odd thing to buy on a date.'

'It wasn't really a date,' Misaki said, 'in the end. It was more like a big brother and little sister outing.'

'Ah, I see.' _So it was something like that…_ She wondered what she would have done if she was in Misaki's shoes. Tried again, perhaps. Tried lots of times until she simply had to change that redundant motion of things, that never-ending loop. 'Did you have fun, at least?'

'Yep.' Misaki beamed. 'Lots of fun.'

.

Ohjiro came home a little different to how he'd left.

'How was your date?' Ichiro asked.

'You don't have to worry,' was Ohjiro's reply. 'Turned out it was a different type of love the whole time.'

'Oh?' Had he seen that coming? Maybe. He couldn't be sure, in retrospect. No-one could be, when it came to things that weren't clear cut, or written down. 'Did you have fun at least?'

'Yeah. Like a family outing, except without the adults.'

'Really…' He wondered if that boded well for him or not.

At least Ohjiro didn't sound sad.

But still…

'I'm going out,' he called.

'What?' Ohjiro asked. 'I just got back.'

Some comfort food after a breakup – even if it wasn't technically a breakup – couldn't hurt.


	4. Shuko and Ichiro

**Date Muddles**  
 _Chapter 4 – Shuko and Ichiro_

He knew Shuko took her time in deciding anything. Sometimes, unless something forced her hand, she wouldn't decide at all. Like with Misaki. It had become suddenly unavoidable: when mother and daughter were pit against each other in the Championship match.

She'd dragged it out as long as possible. She'd almost thrown the match – but that had proved impossible for the childish half of her, in the end. Or maybe it was because she really did want to see Misaki, deep down. Maybe that unconscious feeling had stopped her from throwing the match and her chance.

Or maybe it was being in battle. Facing an opponent who was giving everything she had, everything she could even though she knew she would lose. To throw a match like that would have insulted her opponent. Insulted her Angel. Insulted all the fans watching the match, waiting for an even more exciting finale.

In the end, he'd never know what made her take off her visor and spread her arms and yell out, to the crowd: 'I'm here, Misaki!' They would never know…

Though it worked out in the end. Shuko and Misaki were living together happily. Even if they were still trying to find their footing in some things. Even if the public were a little rowdy, with the business of Champions and Angelic Layer and all. Even if Misaki was still growing up, if Shuko had a proposal to think about…

Or maybe she wasn't thinking about it at all. He had chosen a poor time, when Shuko's attention was swept up with Misaki and the possibility of living with her. When Ohjiro was showing interest in Misaki as well – and look how that had turned out. They could have avoided that entire pitfall if he'd waited with his proposal.

But now that the gauntlet had been thrown. And Shuko hadn't given an answer. And he needed one.

Was he supposed to remind her? Push for an answer. Or wait anxiously until his nails were gone, until Ogata finally took a sick day to avoid the more and more creative penalties inflicted on him, until Misaki and Shuko had settled down and Shuko could think of disrupting that dynamic with additions again.

He just didn't know.

He'd probably blurt the question out the next time he saw Shuko anyway.

.

She hadn't forgotten about Ichiro, or his proposal. She just didn't know what to do about it.

She envied Misaki and Ohjiro that way. They'd worked out their relationship so quickly. Three dates – and only one of them had been official. And they'd worked out they were older brother and younger sister, and nothing more or less. She did wonder what that meant for Misaki's love live, though. Her two friends were dating. Wouldn't she become like a third wheel? But there was Hotoko-chan, still. And all the other friends she'd made through Angelic Layer. Maybe such things weren't as important to a girl with lots of friends, in a world where something like Angelic Layer drew them all together.

It was still pretty amazing how it had been Athena, _her_ angel, that had brought Misaki into the fold, that had led her to create Hikaru and enter the world of Angelic Layer.

Fate or destiny or whatever one wanted to call it was pretty funny like that.

But at least it had all worked out.

 _Now, about Ichiro…_

She honestly didn't know. Was she ready for a relationship like that? When she had a daughter approaching the prime of her teens. When he had a little brother about to leave his adolescence behind? When she'd had a husband she still very much loved, who she saw in Misaki whenever they'd spoken, whenever she looked at her…

Even if it had been twelve years since he'd died, could she give Ichiro what he wanted from her?

Or was he going to be her Athena, the angel that had swooped down from the heavens and given her hope when she'd had none. The angel who'd lead her through the world, who'd supported her, who'd advised her, who'd held her up – and who'd even kept an eye on Misaki when she couldn't, or wouldn't, do it herself.

In that sense, Ichiro was already family to Misaki. Just like Ohjiro.

But marrying him… could she ever be his equal, in her eyes?

But hadn't she been afraid of the same thing with Misaki? That she'd be somehow inferior to the image of a mother in Misaki's eyes – but the real story was different, so different…

She just didn't know.

.

'So your daughter and my little brother went on a date,' Ichiro began. 'I heard it was an…interesting experience.'

'Enlightening, as well,' Shuko agreed. 'They decided to stick to the big brother, little sister approach. They were certainly quick at coming to that decision, too.'

'Kids these days.' Ichiro shook his head. 'So eager to rush into everything.' But wasn't he the same? No, not really. He'd taken seven years to propose to her, after all.

Shuko smiled. 'Unlike us who run around in circles trying to come to a decision?' she asked.

'Unlike that,' Ichiro agreed. 'But think of all the opportunities they miss because they don't think things through.' He added, in a quieter tone: 'Or the ones we might miss by waiting too long and then bursting at the entirely wrong time.'

'It's not always wrong,' mused Shuko. 'At the Tournament…it worked out.'

'It did.'

'Though I shook up Misaki pretty badly. I made her cry and run away.'

'You did.'

'And you made the match between us happen anyway.'

'Well…' He hedged. 'That wasn't really me. The crowd refused to go home, you know.'

She smiled. 'And the roses were a beautiful touch.'

He blushed lightly. 'My little present to the both of you.'

She sighed. 'You know…' Then she shook her head. 'Never mind.'

'I know?' he prompted. Was this the answer he was waiting for?

'I've been married, before.'

Maybe, in a sense, it was.

'I know,' he said. 'And you love him very much.'

'I do.' They both noted the lack of past tense there.

Honestly, she would never find a man like Ichiro again, either. But she also didn't deserve him, even if she was ready.

'I also love you,' she said.

He lifted his head.

'Like the angel who rescued me from despair. Maybe even like a God.'

And now she'd confused him. He cocked his head a little and prompted her. 'You rescued me,' she clarified, 'when I couldn't work, when I'd left my husband's parents and my daughter behind because I couldn't bear them to see me so weak. You gave me hope. You gave me a way to keep trying, so I could face them again one day – and you also gave me the way I met my daughter again, and the courage to face her like this.' She gestured at herself. She was still in the wheelchair. The prosthetics had come a long way, but not quite far enough yet.

'I also stole you away from her,' he admitted. 'I thought that, maybe, if I hadn't been there with my ideas, you might have given up and gone back and would that really have been a bad thing?'

She shrugged. 'I wouldn't have met you, or Ohjiro. And neither would Misaki. She wouldn't have met Tomayo and Kotarou and Hotoko and all the other friends she'd made. She might not even have met Shoko.'

'But that's how life is. You never know. Fate might have brought them all together a different way.'

'It might have,' she agreed.

They'd drifted away from the question again. They always did that. 'So…' But he really needed his answer. 'You've thought about my…proposal.'

'Yes,' Shuko agreed. 'I have. And I'm sorry, but I can't accept it yet. Maybe never.'

His heart sunk – but, at the same time, a weight disappeared from his shoulders. He had an answer, even if it wasn't the answer he'd wanted to hear.

And he had a reason too.

'I doubt I'll find another man like you,' she continued. 'Someone who could be Misaki's father as well. Who'd look after her when I can't. And I'm sorry, but I have to ask –'

'Of course,' he said immediately. He'd already made his peace with that idea, seven years ago. 'I'll look after Misaki, no matter what happens.'

She smiled at him. 'Thank you. I don't deserve you.'

Was that it, then?

'Will I ever be able to convince you that you do?' he asked.

She shook her head. 'It's hard to bring an angel back down to earth,' she confessed. 'Honestly, I might have still been thinking about it otherwise. I still am. But it wouldn't be fair to you, and I've already been so unfair to Misaki. I can't do that to you as well.'

'Okay.' He drank his coffee in as few gulps as possible. 'Okay. Let's celebrate our bachelorhood with a movie and some popcorn!'

Shuko smiled. 'Is this going to be the same sort of date as Misaki and Ohjiro's?'

'Looks like it.'

.

.

 **Post A/N:** In keeping with Chobits canon, since Ichiro married the landlady there. While it's possible to have had the two in a relationship preceding that, it was less complicated to not go there, and the Athena cosplay really sticks as a symbol, so I just had to use it. XD As for Misaki and Ohjiro…the story did that by itself. I write their ship as often as I break it, or thereabouts. I don't usually pure romance.


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